To Stage or Not to Stage?
The Ins and Outs of Staging Your Home
Right now, your home reflects your taste and preferences. If you’re thinking about selling your home, however, you have to decide whether a more neutral look might attract more interest. Staging a home helps it appeal to more potential buyers and usually generates a faster sale. While you have to spend more money on home staging, you will likely get a higher price for the dwelling than if it isn’t staged.
The Pros of Home Staging
You only get one chance to make a first impression. A home stager wants to ensure that the first impression is the best possible, so staging showcases the home. While you must pay for the service, you literally have someone else do all the heavy lifting. If your furniture sports some wear-and-tear, there is no need to buy new furniture to improve a room’s appearance. The stager has access to all sorts of furniture and artworks, and can also mix and match these items with your own. They know the tricks of the trade to play down or hide difficult spaces. The end result is harmonious and attractive.
A professional stager tours your property, and then comes up with ideas best suited for your home’s particular marketing needs. The stager will send you a proposal, which you can discuss to nail down all specifics. Once an agreement is made, the company stages the property. That includes removing superfluous pieces and putting them in storage, and bringing in new furniture and decorative items and arranging them. While the process varies by the home, this is usually completed with two or three days. Once the house sells, the stager removes the furnishings brought in.
Home Staging Cons
Home staging isn’t cheap. While it can increase the sales price, from a practical standpoint it makes more sense for upscale and luxury properties. When the market is hot, and your type of home is in demand, staging may prove an unnecessary expense.
You also have to make sure staging isn’t overdone. Buyers have different expectations of older homes than they do for newer ones. Trying to make an older home look more up-to-date than it actually is might prove a red flag.
Do It Yourself Staging
For many homeowners, it doesn’t make financial sense to hire a home stager. That doesn’t mean you can’t stage your home on your own. Cleaning and decluttering are home staging basics, as are making necessary repairs. If you don’t use something regularly, prepare for your eventual move by boxing it up.
Put personal items, such as family photos and mementos, into storage when preparing your home for resale. You want those viewing your home to imagine themselves in it, which is harder to do with other people’s cherished articles around.
Contact Us
If you’re looking to buy or sell a home or find a rental property, you need a knowledgeable, experienced realtor familiar with every aspect of the Hawaiian real estate market. We also work with professional stagers. Contact Island Realty Group LLC at 808-689-7407 or IslandRealtyGroup@irghi.com.
